Written Answers Friday 3 July 2009

Scottish Executive

Business Rates

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was collected through business rates in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

John Swinney: The following table shows the amount of business rates collected by each local authority for each year since 1999-2000.

  The Scottish Government guarantees each local authority a combination of distributable business rates plus general revenue grant, with the total amount calculated on the basis of assessed need in each local authority area. The actual amount of business rates collected by each local authority is then deducted from this guaranteed funding with the balance paid as general revenue grant. The amount of business rates collected locally therefore has no effect on the total guaranteed funding.

  Business Rates Collected By Local Authority 1999-2000 to 2004-05

  

 Local Authority
1999-2000 
£ millions
2000-01  
£ millions
2001-02  
£ millions
2002-03  
£ millions
2003-04 
£ millions
2004-05 
£ millions


 Aberdeen City
 107.9
 111.5
 117.1
 117.1
 122.8
 123.6


 Aberdeenshire
 48.5
 51.2
 51.7
 56.5
 54.6
 59.6


 Angus
 21.1
 22.5
 22.8
 24.5
 22.4
 24.6


 Argyll and Bute
 23.7
 27.2
 29.1
 30.0
 25.0
 31.0


 Clackmannanshire
 11.5
 8.6
 11.9
 11.8
 10.7
 11.7


 Dumfries and Galloway
 33.4
 33.9
 33.8
 36.1
 36.8
 39.4


 Dundee City
 43.7
 51.3
 52.4
 54.5
 54.6
 58.2


 East Ayrshire
 23.4
 23.3
 24.7
 25.6
 24.6
 27.1


 East Dunbartonshire
 16.0
 16.7
 18.4
 18.3
 18.1
 19.6


 East Lothian
 26.8
 25.9
 26.5
 23.8
 24.7
 24.5


 East Renfrewshire
 11.2
 10.3
 10.7
 11.8
 11.9
 12.4


 Edinburgh, City of
 208.3
 218.3
 232.7
 242.1
 244.5
 254.4


 Eilean Siar
 4.8
 5.0
 5.3
 5.4
 5.3
 5.7


 Falkirk
 46.4
 48.7
 53.4
 53.7
 53.5
 57.7


 Fife
 91.2
 103.7
 109.9
 111.9
 101.3
 105.9


 Glasgow City
 239.2
 260.6
 266.2
 256.9
 267.4
 280.0


 Highland
 56.7
 57.4
 64.4
 64.6
 65.9
 74.1


 Inverclyde
 18.2
 18.0
 20.3
 20.5
 19.0
 20.5


 Midlothian
 14.6
 15.2
 16.4
 17.5
 17.2
 18.3


 Moray
 20.0
 21.9
 23.2
 23.8
 23.8
 25.4


 North Ayrshire
 39.0
 40.0
 39.0
 38.0
 37.5
 39.4


 North Lanarkshire
 68.6
 74.5
 80.0
 83.0
 84.2
 93.5


 Orkney
 6.4
 6.3
 6.8
 6.7
 6.4
 6.8


 Perth and Kinross
 36.6
 38.8
 41.5
 43.7
 44.3
 45.8


 Renfrewshire
 49.1
 55.4
 55.5
 64.4
 66.0
 70.8


 Scottish Borders
 18.8
 20.5
 20.6
 22.5
 22.0
 23.8


 Shetland
 13.0
 12.5
 13.1
 13.0
 12.5
 11.7


 South Ayrshire
 29.4
 28.2
 30.8
 31.8
 31.8
 34.2


 South Lanarkshire
 74.7
 76.2
 80.7
 84.0
 86.5
 92.4


 Stirling
 27.0
 30.7
 31.9
 33.7
 33.7
 36.5


 West Dunbartonshire
 23.2
 19.0
 25.2
 25.7
 25.3
 27.2


 West Lothian
 44.3
 44.3
 54.8
 52.2
 52.1
 57.3



  Business Rates Collected By Local Authority 2005-06 to 2009-10

  

 Local Authority
2005-06 
£ millions
2006-07  
£ millions
2007-08 
£ millions
2008-092 
£ millions
2009-103
£ millions


 Aberdeen City
 127.3
 122.6
 138.5
 132.1
 139.5


 Aberdeenshire
 51.2
 53.1
 53.4
 55.8
 57.9


 Angus
 22.2
 22.8
 22.2
 22.5
 22.6


 Argyll and Bute
 27.0
 26.6
 26.4
 23.4
 25.7


 Clackmannanshire
 11.6
 11.8
 10.8
 11.8
 11.2


 Dumfries and Galloway
 34.6
 34.2
 34.9
 36.6
 37.8


 Dundee City
 58.8
 57.8
 57.8
 58.4
 62.2


 East Ayrshire
 26.2
 25.1
 25.2
 25.8
 25.8


 East Dunbartonshire
 19.0
 19.1
 19.0
 19.6
 20.0


 East Lothian
 14.6
 16.1
 16.5
 19.0
 18.6


 East Renfrewshire
 11.5
 11.7
 11.6
 12.3
 12.4


 Edinburgh, City of
 279.4
 280.7
 278.9
 293.2
 305.2


 Eilean Siar
 5.5
 5.3
 5.5
 5.4
 5.7


 Falkirk
 56.5
 55.6
 53.7
 53.5
 55.4


 Fife
 117.8
 117.3
 116.9
 107.4
 109.1


 Glasgow City
 282.7
 287.5
 287.1
 299.3
 314.5


 Highland
 75.6
 86.0
 76.4
 83.4
 88.6


 Inverclyde
 19.4
 18.6
 18.3
 19.1
 19.8


 Midlothian
 19.3
 19.7
 19.8
 21.1
 21.5


 Moray
 23.6
 17.9
 23.8
 23.1
 24.4


 North Ayrshire
 32.5
 30.4
 30.9
 31.5
 31.7


 North Lanarkshire
 94.3
 91.8
 92.2
 91.5
 102.1


 Orkney
 6.9
 7.2
 7.0
 7.2
 7.0


 Perth and Kinross
 43.2
 45.4
 42.5
 46.1
 40.5


 Renfrewshire
 68.7
 67.9
 69.9
 75.0
 75.9


 Scottish Borders
 21.0
 22.2
 23.0
 22.8
 22.9


 Shetland
 12.5
 12.1
 12.2
 12.4
 12.6


 South Ayrshire
 34.0
 35.2
 34.2
 36.3
 35.3


 South Lanarkshire
 182.8
 176.9
 169.6
 175.3
 184.6


 Stirling
 34.9
 35.6
 34.6
 36.4
 37.6


 West Dunbartonshire
 58.8
 56.6
 55.11
 58.9
 62.3


 West Lothian
 60.0
 62.3
 60.7
 66.6
 70.5



  Notes:

  1. The figures for 1999-2000 to 2007-08 are from final audited figures for local authorities provided to the Scottish Government, with the exception of West Dunbartonshire’s 2007-08 return which is a final, unaudited amount.

  2. The 2008-09 figures are based on the latest available mid-year returns made to the Scottish Government by local authorities.

  3. The 2009-10 figures are based on estimates made by local authorities to the Scottish Government (known as provisional contributable amounts).

Business Rates

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was collected through business rates in each year since 1999, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

John Swinney: Business rates are collected by local authorities who make returns covering the whole of their areas to the Scottish Government. The information provided is not broken down by parliamentary constituency across Scotland. Business rates information collected by each local authority is provided in the answer to question S3W-25139 on 3 July 2009. All answers to parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx .

Business Rates

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual distribution of income from business rates was in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

John Swinney: The table below shows the amount of business rates income distributed for each year since 1999-2000 broken down by local authority.

  The Scottish Government guarantees each local authority a combination of distributable business rates plus general revenue grant, with the total amount calculated on the basis of assessed need in each local authority area. The actual amount of business rates collected by each local authority is then deducted from this guaranteed funding with the balance paid as general revenue grant. The amount of business rates collected locally therefore has no effect on the total guaranteed funding.

  Business Rate Income Distributed 1999-2000 to 2004-05

  

 Local Authority
1999-2000 
£ millions
2000-01 
£ millions
2001-02  
£ millions
2002-03  
£ millions
2003-04   
£ millions
2004-05 
£ millions


 Aberdeen City
 60.7
 69.2
 64.6
 71.0
 75.5
 78.5


 Aberdeenshire
 63.7
 73.5
 69.0
 76.3
 80.9
 85.2


 Angus
 31.0
 35.7
 33.3
 36.7
 38.6
 40.6


 Argyll and Bute
 25.5
 29.2
 27.2
 29.8
 32.5
 34.1


 Clackmannanshire
 13.7
 15.8
 14.7
 16.3
 17.1
 18.0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 41.4
 47.8
 44.6
 49.0
 52.7
 55.3


 Dundee City
 41.9
 47.6
 43.8
 47.9
 51.8
 54.1


 East Ayrshire
 34.3
 39.4
 36.7
 40.5
 42.9
 44.9


 East Dunbartonshire
 31.2
 35.6
 33.6
 37.2
 38.6
 40.2


 East Lothian
 25.0
 29.1
 27.5
 30.7
 32.1
 34.0


 East Renfrewshire
 24.9
 28.6
 27.1
 30.2
 31.9
 33.6


 Edinburgh, City of
 126.5
 146.2
 137.1
 152.3
 160.0
 168.1


 Eilean Siar
 7.9
 9.1
 8.4
 9.1
 9.4
 9.8


 Falkirk
 40.3
 46.8
 43.8
 48.5
 51.8
 54.6


 Fife
 98.0
 113.3
 106.0
 117.7
 124.6
 131.5


 Glasgow City
 172.0
 201.2
 185.6
 204.7
 206.2
 216.6


 Highland
 58.7
 67.6
 63.3
 70.1
 74.4
 78.1


 Inverclyde
 24.3
 27.7
 25.9
 28.4
 30.0
 31.4


 Midlothian
 22.7
 26.3
 24.8
 27.6
 28.8
 30.2


 Moray
 24.2
 27.9
 25.9
 28.5
 31.0
 32.5


 North Ayrshire
 39.3
 45.4
 42.3
 46.6
 48.4
 50.9


 North Lanarkshire
 91.8
 106.1
 99.5
 110.1
 114.4
 120.5


 Orkney
 5.6
 6.3
 5.9
 6.5
 6.8
 7.2


 Perth and Kinross
 37.5
 43.2
 40.7
 44.9
 48.1
 50.7


 Renfrewshire
 50.1
 57.7
 53.8
 59.4
 61.6
 64.5


 Scottish Borders
 29.9
 34.5
 32.3
 35.9
 38.1
 40.3


 Shetland
 6.5
 7.4
 6.9
 7.5
 7.8
 8.2


 South Ayrshire
 32.3
 37.2
 34.7
 38.3
 40.0
 41.9


 South Lanarkshire
 86.4
 99.7
 93.3
 103.3
 107.7
 113.3


 Stirling
 23.5
 27.0
 25.7
 28.6
 30.7
 32.3


 West Dunbartonshire
 26.9
 30.8
 28.8
 31.8
 33.3
 34.8


 West Lothian
 42.8
 49.7
 47.0
 52.6
 56.7
 60.0



  Business Rate Income Distributed 2005-06 to 2009-10

  

 Local Authority
2005-06 
£ millions
2006-07 
£ millions
2007-08   
£ millions
2008-09 
£ millions
2009-10   
£ millions


 Aberdeen City
 77.5
 75.5
 73.9
 79.4
 88.1


 Aberdeenshire
 86.0
 86.4
 85.9
 90.6
 100.7


 Angus
 40.3
 40.3
 39.9
 41.9
 46.2


 Argyll and Bute
 34.2
 33.8
 33.2
 35.1
 38.4


 Clackmannanshire
 17.9
 17.9
 17.8
 18.8
 21.0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 55.2
 54.9
 54.1
 56.8
 62.4


 Dundee City
 53.7
 52.6
 51.9
 54.5
 59.8


 East Ayrshire
 44.8
 44.4
 43.6
 45.8
 50.3


 East Dunbartonshire
 40.1
 39.5
 38.7
 40.5
 44.1


 East Lothian
 34.2
 34.0
 33.5
 35.6
 39.7


 East Renfrewshire
 33.6
 33.2
 32.7
 34.3
 37.6


 Edinburgh, City of
 168.2
 168.3
 167.1
 177.8
 197.0


 Eilean Siar
 9.8
 9.7
 9.6
 10.1
 11.1


 Falkirk
 54.7
 54.7
 54.4
 57.4
 63.4


 Fife
 132.1
 131.5
 130.2
 137.7
 151.7


 Glasgow City
 216.5
 214.3
 211.3
 222.7
 244.9


 Highland
 78.4
 78.4
 78.0
 82.6
 91.5


 Inverclyde
 31.2
 30.6
 30.0
 31.3
 34.1


 Midlothian
 29.9
 29.5
 28.9
 30.4
 33.5


 Moray
 32.8
 32.5
 32.2
 33.3
 36.6


 North Ayrshire
 51.0
 50.5
 49.6
 52.0
 57.1


 North Lanarkshire
 120.7
 119.7
 118.1
 124.2
 136.7


 Orkney
 7.2
 7.2
 7.2
 7.6
 8.4


 Perth and Kinross
 51.0
 51.0
 50.5
 53.8
 59.8


 Renfrewshire
 64.1
 63.3
 62.1
 65.1
 71.4


 Scottish Borders
 40.6
 40.5
 40.1
 42.3
 46.9


 Shetland
 8.2
 8.1
 8.0
 8.4
 9.2


 South Ayrshire
 41.9
 41.5
 40.8
 42.8
 47.0


 South Lanarkshire
 113.7
 113.3
 111.8
 118.0
 130.3


 Stirling
 32.4
 32.0
 31.7
 33.7
 37.1


 West Dunbartonshire
 34.6
 34.1
 33.4
 35.0
 38.3


 West Lothian
 60.4
 60.4
 59.8
 63.6
 70.6



  Note: The figures above are taken from relevant annual local government finance circulars issued by the Scottish Government.

Business Rates

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual distribution of income from business rates was in each year since 1999, broken down by parliamentary constituency.

John Swinney: Business rates are distributed by the Scottish Government to individual local authorities. This information is not broken down by parliamentary constituency across Scotland. Information on the business rates distributed to each local authority is provided in the answer to question S3W-25141 on 3 July 2009. All answers to parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

General Practitioners

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of GP practices in each NHS board has signed up to provide extended hours.

Nicola Sturgeon: The percentage of GP practices signed up to provide extended hours in each NHS board area is illustrated in the following table:

  

 NHS Board
 Percentage Signed Up


 Ayrshire and Arran
 78


 Borders
 44


 Dumfries and Galloway
 94


 Fife
 46


 Forth Valley
 84


 Glasgow
 66


 Grampian
 61


 Highland
 68


 Lanarkshire
 51


 Lothian
 61


 Orkney
 64


 Shetland
 50


 Tayside
 51


 Western Isles
 83

Health

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the first referral to the new adult scoliosis service at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh was accepted.

Nicola Sturgeon: The first referral to the adult scoliosis service was accepted in April 2009.

Health

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many referrals there have been to the adult scoliosis service at the Royal Infirmity of Edinburgh since 1 April 2009, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: In the three month period April to June 2009, 28 individuals over the age of 16 were referred to the adult scoliosis service based at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.

  Source of Referrals to Adult Scoliosis Service, April-June 2009

  

 NHS Board
 Number of Referrals


 Ayrshire and Arran 
 2


 Dumfries and Galloway 
 1


 Fife 
 1


 Forth Valley 
 1


 Glasgow 
 1


 Grampian 
 3


 Highland 
 1


 Lanarkshire 
 2


 Lothian 
 14


 Tayside 
 2


 Scotland
 28

Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons Community Food and Health (Scotland) has a policy of not accepting applications for funding by email or fax.

Shona Robison: Community Food and Health (Scotland) (CFHS) received over 200 applications to its small grant scheme this year, many from small community groups. Only one of these came by email and none by fax.

  CFHS do not accept faxed applications as large parts are often illegible. In addition, most applications arrive in the two days before the deadline and available fax facilities would not cope with this high demand.

  CFHS do not accept email applications since hard copy signatures from the applicant and a suitable referee are required. Electronic signatures are not acceptable since most of the applicants are unable to encrypt their signature or would use a personal (rather than company) email address to send in applications.

  Hard copy signatures are submitted to check the validity of the applicant and ensure that no applicant is disadvantaged for a lack of access to suitable technology. The scheme is open for around 10 weeks every year.

  CFHS have run the small grants scheme since 1997 and review the scheme annually to fit operational requirements, ensure a uniformity of approach and that community groups have adequate time to consult with their members or communities on the proposed project.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Review of Mobile Communication Devices as Potential Reservoirs of Nosocomial Pathogens in The Journal of Hospital Infection , what steps it has taken to include the regular testing and decontamination of mobile phones, other mobile devices, static phones and computer keyboards as part of the healthcare-acquired infection hygiene measures.

Nicola Sturgeon: We welcome this research report, which is a helpful study and adds to the body of knowledge that we continually gather around Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI). Good hand hygiene and a safer and cleaner patient environment are key in reducing the spread of infection and we remain focused on tackling these areas. Infection control policy on mobile communication devices and other such equipment is a matter for each NHS board.

  Our zero tolerance policy to non hand hygiene compliance by staff has been adopted by all NHS boards. This is supported by our new and more comprehensive hand hygiene awareness raising campaign and the recent increase in monitoring of compliance from quarterly to bi-monthly.

  The National Cleaning Services Specification which NHS boards are measured against was recently revised and the important changes that have been made to the framework will help to drive down infections, drive up standards and reassure patients about the cleanliness of their environment.

  We are also supporting this work by providing £5 million of additional annual funding to NHS boards to employ 600 extra cleaners across the NHS.

Housing

Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of its announcement in a news release of 15 June 2009 of an extra £31 million to support new housing, how it will use the rest of the Barnett consequentials arising from housing spending in the 2009-10 UK Budget.

John Swinney: In addition to the £31 million allocation for new housing which was announced on 15 June, the Scottish Government will be investing £12 million in further education capital projects and £16.1 million into bolstering capacity in the further education sector both this year and next. The balance of Barnett consequentials will be allocated to other priorities in due course.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £5.5 million of funding announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in a news release on 23 June 2009 to help deliver swifter and more effective community justice will be allocated to each local authority and how many additional community justice staff it estimates will be employed by each local authority directly as a result of this funding, broken down by financial year.

Kenny MacAskill: The £5.5 million additional funding for community sentences announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice on 23 June 2009 will be released in two tranches. £1.5 million is being released in the financial year 2009-10 for the specific purposes of assisting authorities to deal with any existing backlogs in placing offenders on their work placements, to move to the new seven working day target for such placements to start and to allow offenders to complete orders within the revised six months target.

  The distribution to community justice authorities (CJA) is detailed in the following table:

  

 Fife and Forth Valley CJA
£178,424


 Glasgow CJA
£244,529


 Lanarkshire CJA
£212,532


 Lothian and Borders CJA
£222,563


 Northern CJA
£172,604


 North Strathclyde CJA
£161,979


 South West Scotland CJA
£185,876


 Tayside CJA
£134,622



  The community justice authority will determine the allocation to local authorities based on local priorities and needs. It is for the local authority to decide how to deploy the additional funding with relation to the staffing and delivery of community service.

  The additional funding being provided for the current financial year will be increased to £4 million next year. The distribution of the additional £4 million across CJAs will be determined by application of the agreed formula for criminal justice social work using the most recent available datasets and it is hoped to notify CJAs of the available amounts as part of their overall settlement for 2010-11 by the end of December.

NHS Hospitals

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it monitors the quality of food provided to hospital inpatients.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of nutrition to patients and through our Improving Nutritional Care Programme we have taken steps to improve the whole experience of nutrition in hospitals including improving the standard of meals. One aspect of the programme is the development of a national catering specification, Food in Hospitals (2008) , which provides guidance to NHS boards on how to provide tasty, nutritious and healthy meals to the diverse population of patients who enter hospitals. The specification aims to ensure that hospital catering recognises the fundamental importance of appropriate food provision for every patient as part of his or her treatment. This in turn will influence health and recovery.

  Food in Hospitals supports NHS health boards to deliver on the Clinical Standards for Food, Fluid and Nutrition which are used to assess performance in the provision of food, fluid and nutritional care in NHS boards throughout Scotland. NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is currently undertaking peer review visits on these standards. All health boards, including the two special health boards, are being reviewed from March – October 2009.

  Progress reports are being requested on standards 1 (Policy and Strategy), 2 (Assessment, Screening and Care Planning) and 6 (Education and Training for Staff) which were previously reviewed in 2006. Full peer review visits are being undertaken on standards 3 (Planning and Delivery of Food and Fluid), 4 (Provision of Food and Fluid to Patients) and 5 (Patient Information and Communication).

  A National Overview Report is expected to be published in April 2010.

NHS Hospitals

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to replace cook-chill facilities in hospitals with conventional catering facilities.

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to replace cook-freeze facilities in hospitals with conventional catering facilities.

Shona Robison: Plans of this kind are operational matters for individual NHS boards.

NHS Hospitals

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been received concerning the quality of food in hospitals managed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde in the last two financial years, broken down by hospital.

Shona Robison: The total number of complaints received by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde concerning the quality of food in hospitals in the last two financial years, broken down by hospitals, is shown in the following table:

  

 Hospital
 April 2007 – March 2008
 April 2008 – March 2009


 Southern General Hospital
 4
 7


 Glasgow Royal Infirmary
 4
 6


 Western Infirmary
 1
 1


 Gartnavel General Hospital
 2
 


 Drumchapel
 1
 


 Beatson
 
 1


 Royal Alexandra Hospital
 
 2


 Mansionhouse
 
 2


 Stobhill General Hospital
 
 1


 Inverclyde Royal Infirmary
 
 1


 Parkhead Hospital
 
 1


 Total
 12
 22



  Source: NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

NHS Staff

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were paid mileage as volunteer drivers or for using their own cars in connection with NHS business in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were paid mileage as volunteer drivers or for using their own cars in connection with NHS business for 10,000 miles and above per annum, in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally.

Scottish Government Finance

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what ministerial contributions were made to the drafting and publication of Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland 2007-08 .

John Swinney: Government Expenditure and Revenue in Scotland 2007-08 is a National Statistics publication. It is therefore produced independently of Scottish ministers in line with the National Statistics code of practice.

  The final publication had already been sent to the publishers by the time ministers were provided with a copy of the report.

Scottish Law Commission

Willie Coffey (Kilmarnock and Loudoun) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to receive advice from the Scottish Law Commission regarding changes to the system of land registration and the processes for registration of a non domino dispositions.

John Swinney: We expect to receive the Scottish Law Commission’s report on Land Registration, part of its seventh programme of law reform, by the end of the year. A draft Land Registration (Scotland) Bill, a proposed replacement for much of the existing Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979, will be appended to the report.

Sport

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the £1.2 million allocated to Scottish Swimming over the next 12 months will be invested.

Shona Robison: : The £1.2 million investment from sportscotland to Scottish Swimming can be broken down across their corporate plan priorities as follows:

  

 Coaching 
£223,000


 Performance Development 
£665,000


 Strong Partners 
£330,500


 Total 
£1,218,500

Swimming Pools

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the timeline is for a decision on the business case for an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Aberdeen.

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3O-7416 by Shona Robison on 18 June 2009, when it expects to make a decision on the Stage 1 application submitted by Aberdeen City Council.

Shona Robison: It is for sportscotland to consider the business case for an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Aberdeen as part of the formal application process. I am pleased that a formal application has now been submitted to sportscotland by Aberdeen City Council.

  The application follows a two-stage process. I understand that Stage 1 is already underway and this would normally take around three weeks to consider with Stage 2 taking around three months, however this timescale is dependant upon sportscotland and Aberdeen City Council.